Dish or pan lifter



y 1935. H. DE L. KNEELAND 2,002,149

DISH OR PAN LIFTER Filed May 28, 1954 Patented May 21. 1935 I ,msn R PANL FTE Herbert 'De L. Kneeland; Dundalk, Md.

A Application May 28,1934, Serial No. .728,0. 22

" 1 Claim. 2 (01. 294534) Y I V This inventionlrefers'to' generalutensils and main shankbar 4. a This shank bar is provided I moreparticularly to lifters for lifting dishes, with a double series ofV-notches 5, on its under plates or pans from an oven or hot stove. Itsurface, a middle strip 6 of the bar being nonhas among its objects toprovide a lifter of this notched and serving as a slide to be describedkind that will operate noiselessly and will not later. The shank bar isnotchedfor about the 5 have springs. Another object is .to have theproportion of the distance indicated in the draw- Weight distributed onthe handle in the most ing, and has at its other end portion a puller l.convenient manner to the holder. A furtherob- The bar is preferably ofrectangular cross-sec- J'ect is to avoid the use of complicated anddusttion. A handle 8 with a liner l8 slides over the 10 collectingparts. Another object is to have the shank bar and is interiorlyprovided with a pas- 1o lifter automatically bind itself to the objectlifted sage 9 to permit this to be readily done. 'A jaw and also relieveitself of the object easily when 12, is provided and attached to thehandle and located at the point where it is to be left. Other is similarin construction and appearance to that objects will become apparent asthe invention is of jaw 2, and also has the arms l3 and depends 5 morefully set forth. from the handle by the S-piece [0. This S-piece Theusual type of dish lifter is complicated ispunched to provide twoinverted points II that and requires the use of the fingers to operateserve to engage between the V-notches .5 when the catch or mechanismthat locks the dish to the weight of the dish lifted pulls down on theit. In this invention this is avoided because jaw 2 and the main shankbar. At other times the lifter automatically locks itself to the dishthe points do not catch in the notches. The cen- 20 when the weight ofthe same exerts its influence tral slide serves to carry the shank baralong the on it, and automatically releases when the weight handle andkeep the points out of the notches is not exerted, as when the dish islaid on a platuntil the weight acts. This makes the movement form ofsome kind. The usual lifter has its hanof the handle along the shank barnoiseless indle at the end of the lifter which tends to .bend stead ofclicking, as would be the case if the 25 7 over under the weight of thedish, as well as points caught in the notches continuously. The make theuser exert a torsional reaction of the points are located outside of thehandle proper Wrist muscles to overcome it. In this invention topositively provide for this feature.

7 the handle shifts closely to the weight center The operation of thedevice is simple. The jaw and enables the user to carry the weight con-2, is caught over the edge of the dish or pan and 30 veniently withoutsuch stresses on the wrist musthe handle 8 is pushed towards it untilthe jaw cles. The invention consists of a main shank I2 engages on theopposite side. In this position which hooks to one side of a dish orplate and the handle is close to the dish and affords a good is thenoperated to lock on the opposite side byholding position for the user.At the same time pushing in the handle. The weight of the obthe weighton the jaw 2 brings down the shank 35 ject tilts the main shank slightlyand causes the bar 4 and makes its V-notches engage on the handle tobind it in that position automatically. points H and lock the dish tothe lifter. When In the drawing, which illustrates an embodithe dish islaid on a table, the weight is taken ment of this invention: off theshank bar and the points I l disengage Figure 1 indicates a sideelevation of a lifter from the V-notches 5, and the handle is pulled 40embodying this invention. back and the lifter can be removed from thedish.

Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1. This action is evident, as theweight pulls down Figure 3 is an end elevation of Figure 1. on the jaws3 and [3 when the dish is supported Figure 4 is a sectional detail online 44 of by them, the arm is stressed more because the Figure 1.leverage on its greater length is more substan- 45 Figure 5 is asectional detail on line 55 of tial compared with that on the small jawl3. Figure 1. This causes the arm 4 to bend down and with it Figure 6 isa detail of the-jaw and points of comes the notches on top of the pointsII and the handle lining. they lock together. When the dish is laid downSimilar reference characters refer to similar on a table, the weight, istaken off the arm 4 and 50 parts throughout the drawing. the notchesresiliently lift themselves off the In the construction indicated, Irepresents a points H, because the arm is bent and formed to plate thatis caught under its edge with a jaw 2, provide for this feature. This isprovided for which has a pair of arms 3 spread out in a very readilyduring manufacture as it requires a V-like form inwardly and dependsdown from a very slight bend in the material to do it. The 5 portion IIIis bent also to bring its points normally out of contact with thenotches 5, by having its upper plane slightly tilted downwards. Thepuller I, serves to enable the user to pull on the shank while thehandle is being held by the other hand of the user.

The construction of this device in its simplicity, can be appreciatedmore fully when it is stated that it can be made from two pieces ofmetal, a

feature that no conventional type of lifter can anticipate aseffectively. The shank, its jaw and puller form one piece, while thesliding handle liner and its jaw and points form the other. It shouldalso be noted that the points not only catch the notches but that theshank also binds in the handle when the weight is placed on the lifter.7

While but one form of the invention is shown in the drawing, it is notdesired to limit this application for patent to this particular form orin any other way otherwise than limited by the prior art, as it isappreciated that other forms might be used that would employ the sameprinciples and come within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:-

A dish lifter comprising a main flat shank bar having an end portionbent downwardly and inwardly and bifurcated to form a dish engaging jawand having a plurality of rows of notches on its under side, a hollowhandle mounted and slidable along said shank bar, a liner in the handlehaving a dish-engaging jaw depending therefrom to align opposite thefirst mentioned jaw, said liner being resiliently spaced from the shankbar adjacent the portion depending therefrom and having a plurality ofpoints adapted to engage in the rows of notches and lock therein whenthe shank bar is weighted or depressed substantially as described.

HERBERT DE L. KNEELAND.

